More of Christ Less of Me

Tigger Or Eeyore?

I often get caught (and shhh… I love it too) to my friends’ kids to read them story books. It takes me back to my childhood. At the age of seven, I would often be sent to the nursery during school breaks to do likewise. Kids enjoy the way it is narrated, and I enjoy having an opportunity to bring the book to life, especially Pooh stories. You can just imagine Tigger bouncing up and down full of energy and vigour. Nothing seems to dampen his joy. “It’s all Tiggerific” as far as he is concerned. Eeyore on the other hand always seems to have problems and tends to be weighed down. Words are dragggggged and the negativity oozes out. With whom would you like to hang around – the optimistic Tigger or the pessimistic Eeyore?

I can’t help but think of the story where Eeyore was searching for a four clover leaf hoping that would change his unlucky day. His friends gather around him and help him in the search. The enthusiastic Tigger bounces right onto one patch of clovers. Needless to say what happened to that patch and how poor Eeyore responded to the mishap! Eeyore was so caught up in his worries that he overlooked the blessing of friendship, the friends who rallied around him in his time of trouble.

By no means am I endorsing hypocrisy or pretence here. We have been created with emotions – both positive and negative. We feel pain and we cry. It is therapeutic to deal with the emotions. There is joy and we celebrate. In fact Paul writes of the parts of the Body of Christ, “If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honoured, every part rejoices with it” (1 Corinthians 12:26). If we are operating as a body, we will indeed suffer with those who are suffering and rejoice with those who are being honoured. The Psalmists never downplayed their struggles or sufferings. However, they poured out their hearts and then committed their situations to God with “BUT I will trust You!” The Bible records Jesus’ display of emotions on several occasions – He got angry, He was moved with compassion, He wept, He felt anguish etc etc.

However like Eeyore, we can wallow in our pity without being able to count our blessings. We forget God is with us all the time. We forget that He upholds us in His righteous right hand. We forget that He will never leave us nor forsake us, that He knows whatever is happening in our lives. We forget that He carries us through. Why do we forget? We focus on what is seen and what is tangible. Oh yes, we can recite the verse “faith is in the unseen” back to front even. However, if we truly comprehended it, would we lose hope? Would we panic and be anxious? Being emotional isn’t wrong. In fact it is healthy.

The more we place our trust in God the turnaround of our ‘low’ periods will become shorter.

We will see the light at the end of the tunnel even if we may not know what the light actually is!

What is your situation today? Are you overwhelmed by your problems and wallowing in pity? Or are you able to count your blessings?